Web Typography Foundations
A focused workshop where typography theory meets practical application — studying typeface selection, spacing systems, and readability at scale.
Most web typography problems come down to the same few decisions made without a clear framework: font pairing that fights itself, line lengths that tire the eye, or spacing that looks fine on one screen and breaks on another.
What gets covered
The course starts with how browsers render type and why that differs from print. You will work through font loading strategies, fallback stacks, and the practical difference between system fonts and web fonts in real page contexts.
Spacing and rhythm
Line height, letter spacing, and vertical rhythm are treated as a system, not isolated settings. You will build a spacing scale by hand so the logic behind it is clear, not just the output.
Type is the interface. If it is hard to read, the content does not matter.
Responsive type
Fluid typography using clamp() is covered in detail, with attention to where it works well and where fixed breakpoints make more sense. No one-size answer here.
By the end you will have a reference document you built yourself, covering the decisions your own projects actually need.
Workshop structure
Each step in this workshop builds directly on the previous. Participants work through real web typography scenarios rather than reading about them.
Course Outline
- How browsers render fonts: hinting, anti-aliasing, subpixel rendering
- Font formats: WOFF2, variable fonts, system font stacks
- Building a type scale from first principles
- Line length, leading, and tracking as a system
- Fluid type with clamp() and viewport units
- Font loading performance: font-display, preload, subsetting
- Pairing typefaces without relying on intuition alone
- Accessibility requirements for type on screen